French President to Visit Morocco in September

French President Emmanuel Macron is reportedly planning a visit to Morocco in September to be centered on migration, media reports said.

If confirmed, the visit, Macron’s second to Morocco since his election, will come at a context of a surge of illegal migration attempts from Morocco to Spain as migrants shun the Libyan route in favor of the more secure Western Mediterranean crossing.

The EU announced earlier, in the wake of the increase in illegal crossings, that it will increase aid to Spain and Morocco to €60 million.

So far this year, Spain has overtaken Italy as the main entry point of illegal migrants to the EU with more than 20,000 illegal migrants this year.

Morocco, a destination for migrants itself, is asking for more support from the EU to tackle the new wave of migrants.

In a congratulations message to King Mohammed VI on the Throne Day, Macron praised Morocco for its migration policy and leadership saying that the 11th World Forum on Migration next December in Marrakech would offer a chance to learn from the policy launched by Morocco in 2013 to manage migration and asylum.

Morocco along with Algeria, Libya and Tunisia have rejected the EU idea of creating migrant disembarkation platforms on their soil.